Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is a an exciting ride that debuted at Epcot on May 27, 2022. This post covering the ride has two sections. First, we start with a section about the basics of the ride—what, when, and where. Then we follow up with some information on how to ride this great ride. Read on to learn all about Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind!
Notes On Standby and Virtual Queue
We’re surprised that, as of June 1, 2023, Disney has not yet ended the Cosmic Rewind virtual queue. While is hasn’t been announced, we’re on the edge of our seat expecting this change to happen. When it does happen, it will have major implications for getting on the ride, so I want to quickly cover the issue here.
When this change happens, Guardians will probably become the most popular option for starting the day at Epcot. If you don’t buy the Individual Lightning Lane, you’ll want to head there first.
The “twist” here is that guests arriving by Skyliner or from the Boardwalk area resorts enter the park through a different entrance between the UK and France pavilions. The walk from that entrance to Guardians is much longer than the walk from the front entrance, ostensibly putting these guests at a huge disadvantage at rope drop. (The two entrances are discussed more in our Epcot Early Entry and Rope Drop post.)
We assume Disney will account for this and change procedures so those guests can get to the ride at roughly the same time as the guests coming from the front of the park, but that won’t be confirmed until a change actually occurs. For now, we can only flag this as something to be aware of.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Basics
We’ll start with some basic information about the ride.
When does Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind open?
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened at Epcot on Friday, May 27, 2022. This is the Friday before Memorial Day (Monday, May 30), the start of summer break in much of the United States.
You might also check out our Walt Disney World Construction and Refurbishment Calendar for a look at other happenings around the resort.
What type of ride is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind?
The new Guardians ride is a roller coaster, and not just any roller coaster. One of the big features of the ride is a unique ride vehicle that allows for 360-degree motion and reverse launches. Disney showed off the vehicle just after D23 2019, and you can see the vehicle in this parks blog video here:
Is this ride anywhere else?
No! This is a brand new ride. Unlike TRON (coming to Magic Kingdom) and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (also coming to Epcot), this ride is not a duplicate of a Disney ride in another park. There is another Guardians of the Galaxy Ride—Guardians of the Galaxy—Mission: BREAKOUT! in Disney California Adventure, but that ride is not a coaster, it’s a drop ride (built on the old Tower of Terror).
Where is the new Guardians coaster?
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is located in Future World at Epcot, on the site of the old Universe of Energy Pavilion. This is on the side that has Test Track and Mission: SPACE, not the side that has Soarin’, Journey Into Imagination, and The Seas With Nemo and Friends.
Does It Have a Height Requirement?
The height requirement for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is 42 inches / 107 centimeters.
Does Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind make you sick?
This has been a big topic since the ride opened, with many guests experiencing motion sickness on the ride. Between the two of us, Emily has experienced mild motion sickness, while Kenny has not. Both of us experience some motion sickness on many rides at Universal Orlando, but none on any other rides at Walt Disney World except Mission: SPACE.
The most common tip to handle the motion sickness is to keep your head back and facing forward, letting the ride point you in one way or another, rather than moving your head to look around during the ride.
Riding Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
As of its debut, there are two ways to get on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, via the virtual queue and via an Individual Lightning Lane purchase. We’ll discuss both of these.
Does Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind have a Virtual Queue?
Yes, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind uses a virtual queue. This is be available in the My Disney Experience app.
Each day, guests have up to three opportunities to join the virtual queue:
All guests can try to join at 7AM (must have park pass reservation for Epcot).
If they fail, they can try again at 1PM (must be inside Epcot).
Moreover, guests who are staying at deluxe Disney resorts and have access to Extended Evening Hours (select nights) can join a virtual queue for those Extended Hours at 6PM.
Based on our initial understanding, guests with access to Extended Evening Hours would theoretically be able to join the virtual queue once at either 7AM or 1PM and then again at 6PM, while other guests can only join once at either 7AM or 1PM.
Because there will be a virtual queue, standby will not be available. The only way on the ride is via the virtual queue or Lightning Lane, which we discuss next.
Does Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind have a Lightning Lane?
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind has individual Lightning Lane available for purchase—it is not a part of Genie+. It typically costs $14-17 per person.
Should I try for the virtual queue or the Lightning Lane at 7AM?
If you’re not staying at a Disney resort, your first opportunity to get on the ride will be to join the virtual queue at 7AM. Then when the park opens, you can try to buy an individual Lightning Lane. And, if you didn’t get into the virtual queue at 7AM, you can try again at 1PM.
If you’re staying at a Disney resort, you have more of a dilemma. At 7AM, you’ll have two options. Disney resort guests get access to individual Lightning Lanes at 7AM, so you’ll be able to choose which you try first—buy the Lightning Lane or join the virtual queue.
If you have two people with the My Disney Experience app in your party, you can just try both. The virtual queue process is faster, so theoretically if Person 1 got everyone in via the virtual queue, they could tell Person 2 not to finish purchasing the Lightning Lane (or you could do both).
If you only have one person, the first thing you’ll want to do is visit Thrill Data and see how quickly Lightning Lanes have been selling out recently. If Lightning Lanes are selling out by 7:05AM, then you might need to prioritize buying one to maximize your chances of getting on the ride.
If Lightning Lanes are lasting a bit (even until 7:10AM), then you can probably try for the virtual queue at 7AM, and then buy a Lightning Lane if you don’t get the virtual queue (or you might decide to just try your luck at the 1PM virtual queue).
Epcot Rope Drop and Its Two Entrances
Note: This section only applies if the ride does not utilize a virtual queue.
The other big unknown is whether Epcot will change its rope drop procedures before Guardians opens. “Rope drop” refers to the steps the park uses at the beginning of the day to queue guests for rides. They don’t just open the gates at opening time and have people run wherever.
Currently (pre-Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure), Epcot uses two entrances with two separate rope drop points in the morning.
Guests entering via the Boardwalk / Skyliner entrance are held in the UK Pavilion. Guests entering via the main / Future World entrance are held near Spaceship Earth. These groups are allowed to head to rides at roughly the same time, which creates pros and cons for both groups depending on which rides they’re heading to.
As it stands, guests entering via the Boardwalk / Skyliner entrance would have no shot at a short wait on Guardians because the main entrance folks would easily beat them there. Disney has a few options to resolve this.
They could operate buses from the resorts using the Boardwalk / Skyliner entrance to the main entrance, allowing those guests both options. Or they could just a corridor of the park from from Future World into the World Showcase, up to France (Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure) and Norway (Frozen Ever After).
The latter option seems most likely, as it accords with how the other parks operate. Depending on crowd levels on a given day, the other three parks all open space in the heart of the park, with guests grouping at various points heading to specific lands / rides.
In any case, when the ride opens we’ll be there (either for the debut or shortly after, since the first few days are weird anyways), and we look forward to helping you get on this new ride!
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
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Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
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Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
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